However, it appears so far that financial contagion originated in the USA and spread to other countries via their immense holdings of dollar-denominated assets. A logical corollary to this, in my view, is that for decades assets based in the USA and denominated in dollars were so popular that, despite our immense and growing trade deficit, non-Usonians would buy financial assets with the huge pools of dollars they acquired from ordinary business. Now, it seems as though dollars will be seen as having the same systemic risk as Korean won or Thai baht.SOURCES & ADDITIONAL READING: